Holiday Dishes to Make Three Days Ahead

By Food & Wine
Updated May 23, 2017
From a pot roast smothered in bacon and onions to linzer cookies with spiced jam, here are holiday dishes to make three days ahead.
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Slow-Braised Osso Buco

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Osso buco translates as “hole in the bone,” referring to the delectable marrow in the center of the veal shank bone. This Lombardian specialty is ideal for entertaining because the flavor of the dish only improves if it’s made in advance.

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New Year's Day Black-Eyed Peas

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Chef Ryan Hardy, who has childhood memories of black-eyed peas simmering on the front burner (and collards on the back burner), has adapted the recipe over the years; he now serves the hearty peas with garlic-rubbed toasts and garnishes them with generous amounts of freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano.

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Chestnut Soup with Grappa Cream

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Growing up in Italy’s Marche region, Fabio Trabocchi roasted chestnuts in the fireplace to eat as a snack while playing cards with his family. At culinary school, he first transformed those chestnuts into this luscious soup. Incredibly creamy, it’s best served in small cups as an hors d’oeuvre.

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Sausage, Apple and Cranberry-Nut-Bread Dressing

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Using a dried-fruit-and-nut bread in this classic sausage-apple dressing is a super shortcut.

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Pot Roast Smothered in Bacon and Onions

Credit: © Quentin Bacon
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There seems to be a daunting amount of onions in this Portuguese-inspired dish, but with the bacon they cook down to a wonderful, smoky jam surrounding super tender beef.

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Triple-Layer Chocolate Macaroon Cake

Credit: © Anna Williams
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François Payard layers chewy coconut cake with silky chocolate ganache. The beauty of the recipe is its simplicity: It has only six ingredients.

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Curried Cauliflower Soup with Coconut and Chiles

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Chef Annie Somerville thickens and enriches her fragrant cauliflower soup with unsweetened coconut milk. The thinly sliced jalapeño served on top adds a bright, fresh heat that’s delicious with the warm curry spices and sweet roasted cauliflower.

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Chicken-Liver-Pâté Toasts

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“Nothing is better for big-party entertaining than putting toppings on bread,” says Tamar Adler. She and her brother, John Adler, slice and toast bread rounds, then top them with whatever ingredients inspire them, like this chicken-liver pâté. John makes it by pureeing sautéed livers with onions, anchovies and Marsala, then blending them with crème fraîche until smooth and creamy.

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Smoky Tomato-Braised Veal Shoulder with Potatoes

Credit: © Cedric Angeles
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Humanely raised veal is becoming more widely available at top butcher shops. Butcher-chef Tia Harrison recommends choosing veal shoulder or rump roast, which are more economical than other cuts of veal but still delicious. Harrison likes to braise them; here, canned fire-roasted tomatoes give the dish a smoky flavor.

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Spiced Chocolate Fondue

Credit: © Hans Gissinger
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Fragrant with cinnamon, clove, cardamom and ginger, this fondue holds up remarkably well at room temperature, which makes it good for parties—especially when it’s served with gingerbread, apples or shortbread for dunking.

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Linzer Cookies with Spiced Jam

Credit: PHOTO © JOHN KERNICK
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Kevin Sbraga credits his father, Harvey Beachem, with creating these linzer torte-inspired cookies at Harvey’s Bakery in Willingboro, New Jersey. He takes his father’s recipe one step further, adding anise and coriander to the raspberry jam that he spreads between the hazelnut cookies (which are spiced with cinnamon and cloves).

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Caraway Parker House Rolls

Credit: © Burcu Avsar
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The Parker House Hotel in Boston claimed to have invented these famously buttery pull-apart rolls. To create their unique shape, Grace Parisi forms the dough into rounds, folds them in half, arranges in a dish and bakes. Using a metal pan gives the edges of the rolls a nice crust while the inside stays puffy and moist. Bread flour makes the rolls pleasantly chewy, but all-purpose flour works well too.

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Rum-Mocha Walnut Layer Cake

Credit: © Dana Gallagher
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Ivor's Pink Applesauce

Credit: © Tina Rupp
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Ivor Simmons, Gail Simmons's father, rarely cooks, but each fall, he cans cinnamon-scented applesauce to eat during the year. Adding a few plums imparts a lovely rosy hue. Serve the applesauce with Gail's mother's latkes.

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Chocolate-Malt Stump de Noël

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Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito worked together to create this stupendous holiday dessert, a twist on the classic, elegant French bûche de Noël (so called because it looks like a log, or b&uirc;che). To make their version, the Bakedduo roll up frosted cake strips to form an enormous round, then set the dessert on its side to look like a huge tree stump. It's much tastier than a traditional bûche, because the layers are made with less egg so they're less spongy. The cake is covered with a dark chocolate frosting; the filling is infused with Baked's signature flavor, malt (both malt powder and crushed malted milk balls).

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